Bringing Lines Together
by Cadel
Summary: No memories, just Kakashi and a stranger in the middle of nowhere. It's alarmingly easy to get to know someone when you don't know who you are. Albeit reluctantly. Kakashi and Iruka.
1. Chapter 1

**Bringing Lines Together**

By Cadel

**Summary:** No memories, just Kakashi and a stranger in the middle of nowhere. It's alarmingly easy to get to know someone when you don't know who you are. Albeit reluctantly. Kakashi and Iruka. Friendship. General.

* * *

CHAPTER 1

* * *

[Prologue]

A small graveyard was made in the time it took to slaughter through the enemy, leaving nothing but crimson stained leaves behind.

Hot red dripped slowly from his arm and down the blade of his kunai, mixing the wet dirt with blood and flesh. The bodies of the unidentified assailants decorated the forest floor, strewn and sprawled in a mangled heap.

A silver-haired victor was the only one left standing.

Low and guttural was the growl echoing from the back of his throat, sending an animalistic warning to any who decided to oppose him again. Of course it was unnecessary since all his opponents were dead.

Except one.

The breaking of a twig snapped his head to the direction of the offensive sound, this tiny signal that indicated that there was indeed someone else lurking behind the trees. The one-eyed killer prowled slowly to find this silent watcher but to his surprise, the man in question decided to come into the light out of his free will. He stumbled into the clearing where the bodies lay still, his feet uncoordinated and his arm clutching the side of his ribs.

The man was all brown on brown, almost blending into the background with his equally tan skin tone that matched his hair and eyes. Muddy, pale and bleeding. The only thing that stood out was a line of pale scar tissue running across his nose from cheek to cheek. The man wheezed painfully, his eyes staring intently at a single dark one.

But before anything could be verbalised, the intruder was pushed to the ground with an almost meteor force and found his spine digging painfully into the uneven forest floor. The one-eyed ninja snarled and pinned him harder with little care for his injuries. The only reason the scarred stranger wasn't dead was because the copy-nin found no immediate weapons on him.

"Who are you?" He hissed no higher than a whisper.

To his credit, the other man didn't flinch but his unremarkable brown eyes widened by a fraction at the vehemence in his voice and the gleaming blade to his throat.

The doe-eyed stranger's mouth poised to make the syllables but his ears heard nothing. The man suddenly seemed frustrated, the slow forming frown expressing his confusion and the smallest flash in his eyes advertising a moment of candid panic. A single dark eye narrowed as his gaze travelled down to the smaller man's throat.

Dark purple and blue bruises decorated his tan neck where the blood pooled underneath the skin like a swollen pulp. Flesh was torn and dried blood caked in various places under the hair line; he guessed there may have been more underneath the dirty yukata the stranger was wearing.

"You can't speak." He stated needlessly.

The smaller man didn't seem to hear him as his mouth opened again, consternation peeking into alarm. He opened his lips to produce what had been intended as a word but all that came was a mangled gurgle of air. The pale scar tissue wrinkled as he scrunched his eyes at the pain flooding his vocal pipes. He really couldn't say a word.

It was then that the silver haired nin found another body hidden behind the trees to his left. A kunai was sticking into the man's temple at an awkward angle, blood still oozing out from the deep puncture.

That kill wasn't his. That only meant that the unremarkable man currently beneath him was the other killer.

His eyes narrowed at the brown haired stranger with a calculating glare and took in his appearance again. A light green yukata that might have been clean once was now torn and splattered with blood. He only had one sandal on his right foot but the other was missing. His pony tail was loose and messy strands sprung loose from his cord. The stranger's throat was near mangled with the amount of bruising splotched all over his neck; he'd been choked…violently. Yet he was well enough to have not died from asphyxiation, his attacker probably being the dead man with the blade to the head.

He moved in closer and sensed the tiniest amount of chakra thrumming from the man but it was a miniscule amount, about the same as a child's. This man wasn't a ninja. At least not with the group he'd just killed.

Brown eyes stared wide-eyed at him with something unrecognisable and pained. The masked ninja ignored it.

The copy-nin couldn't tell you why, but he slowly removed the kunai from the other man's throat and let him go. Standing back up with a single quick movement, he placed distance between him and the stranger, who was still looking at him with that damn expression. He suppressed a low growl.

The breeze turned south and the leaves swirled, with it carrying a chilly bite from the north.

The masked killer stared dispassionately at the scarred man on the floor then turned to walk away not seeing the bewilderment, confusion and fear lacing the muddy brown orbs of his almost victim.

Clutching his useless throat, Iruka opened his mouth to call out to the man that had just tried to kill him but another sharp sensation strangled his vocal cords. The doe-eyed teacher crawled laboriously on his belly in an attempt to go after him but movement only caused his broken ribs to cut excruciatingly into his chest. He rolled onto his back to find an easier way to breath and arched his eyes to find a glimpse of the silver haired ninja.

But by then the masked ninja was gone, only the smallest flutter of leaves and the trail of corpses was the only evidence to show that he was ever there.

ooo

Evening began to encroach upon the horizon as the warm display of orange and purple painted the sky in its honeyed colours.

It was a sea of unfamiliarity. The silver haired ninja couldn't seem to recognise any of the landmarks. Now and then he'd spot a species of plant that looked familiar but then he'd get confused to what the significance was. It didn't help that there seemed to be a small earthquake in his head every time he moved. The incessant thrumming in his temple was irritating but just bearable enough that he could still function without wanting to throw up.

The copy-nin stopped for a moment to finally acknowledge the one thing he had unremittingly pushed away to the darkest recesses of his mind.

The place where there should've been memories was now only a dark void of static.

There was absolutely nothing, and he'd only realised it when he'd calm down from the fight which – now that he thought about it – couldn't remember when it had started and why. The immediate need for action had held his thoughts at bay but now that the adrenaline had passed and all he could do was growl at his broken mind, looking for shards of memory where his past should have been.

At that moment, a bout of overwhelming panic almost caught him in its cold grip but the ninja pushed it back even further with stubborn force. He couldn't lose it now. He didn't know where he was or where he was headed but he'd keep moving forward, always forward. Stop moving and you're dead.

Between the thin trunks of trees was a figure of the shinobi looking skywards, his form almost as lonely and still as the spindly trees around him. He looked down at his hands, pale and scarred, each line a testament to his will to live, each torn scar tissue a link to a memory. Something that didn't seem to have much significance when you couldn't remember the last time a blade had been buried in your palm. Had the scar that ran between the webs of his fingers been caused trying to stop an enemy's sword? Or was it because he held the blade too tightly, trying to stop the weapon with naked force alone? Did he care at all? Probably didn't.

Sliding down till his backside hit the floor; the one-eyed ninja shivered while pressing his palm against his temple with an ever increasing weariness that continued to press relentlessly.

Perhaps he should rest for a while, just for a moment.

ooo

Iruka had remained sprawled on his back staring up at the thin canopy of the forest, his eyes zoning to the dapple patches of fading blue.

He didn't move even when Kakashi's back had disappeared amongst the foliage of leaves and dark branches. He didn't move when the bodies of the dead ninjas had gone cold. He didn't move when the insects began to crawl over his legs. He eventually did move when he finished going through his mind for an answer and found that he'd have to get off the ground first before anything could happen.

The academy teacher turned his head to the side, wincing at the pain in his throat and picked up a kunai of the ground. With some effort he pushed of the ground whilst clutching onto the side of a tree for support. He methodically went around the bodies and pulled a bag from the carnage and collected as many kunai and shuriken available. He decidedly left the one kunai in his victim's temple where it was, he didn't think he'd need that one.

He was fairly happy when he found his left sandal and was practically ecstatic to rob the dead ninja of his medical kit. There was no money to take but he spied some horrible ration bars in one of their pockets, the damn thing seemed even less appealing next to the ninja's dead skin but pragmatism won out in the end.

The whole way through his throbbing throat was accompanied by the very real fear that his muteness might be permanent but he figured such pessimism wasn't needed right now. Despondency and despair would not help him. Pushing the urge to run back to Tsunade to check his vocal chords he focussed his thoughts on his reluctant travel partner and how everything had been botched to hell since that morning.

After stuffing his stolen bag with other looted goods, he swung it over his sore back and began to walk in the direction his wayward comrade had gone.

How long since he'd last seen him? Thirty minutes, one hour? He didn't know. Time seemed to elusively slip by in this barren skeletal forest but the brown eyed chūnin was sure of one thing. He'd find Kakashi-sensei and figure where to go from there.

After all, you never leave a team mate behind, no matter how irritating they were. Or how insane they've become.

* * *

**A/N**: The end of a prologue, a new story begins.

CADEL


	2. Chapter 2

**Bringing Lines Together**

By Cadel

* * *

CHAPTER 2

* * *

[Severed]

_A Few Days Earlier…  
_

Dawn in Konoha was something to admire. The trees did something to magnify the colours dispersed and splayed over the village like a hazy abstract artwork of ochre, shale, emerald and gold.

However, Iruka found it difficult to admire anything as he watched the cover of an obscene orange book whilst waiting at the Hokage's door. His left eye-brow twitched as a disturbing giggle escaped the man who held the piece of pornographic literature and turned the page, completely ignoring the comfort of anybody else in the vicinity.

When Shizune finally opened the door Iruka could only sigh in relief. "The Hokage will see you now."

In an instant both Iruka and Kakashi headed towards the door only to pause and look at the other when they both couldn't fit through the one opening.

"Er…Shizune-San, is it me who the Hokage wishes to see first or is it Hatake-san?" The chūnin asked politely.

Ton-ton snorted happily in the assistant's arms as she answered kindly. "Actually she'll like to see both of you."

At this, Kakashi just moved past the teacher and walked right in without noticing the rude gesture and continue to read. Iruka followed in a more polite manner but seemed to bristle at the brushoff.

Hatake still had his nose buried in the book as Tsunade moved a few things around on her desk without looking up. It wasn't until a good five minutes later that Shizune came back with another pile of folders and placed them on the desk. The blonde hokage only glared at the stack of papers in disdain.

With a defeated sigh she raised a single finger and motioned her two waiting shinobi to come forward.

"Here." She threw a scroll at Kakashi who caught it while simultaneously pocketing his Icha Icha away. "Iruka you're aware of what we spoke of a few days ago?"

Iruka nodded. "Yes Hokage-sama."

"You depart in two days." She shuffled her contracts and bills around. "Now leave."

Both ninja blinked at the abruptness of her dismissal and wondered if there truly was nothing else to add to their brief meeting. None the less, Iruka bowed and began to turn away when Kakashi spoke up.

"I think there's been a mistake."

Tsunade didn't even bother to look up. "Hmm, and what would that be Hatake?" Her words were light but her eyes - even when down cast on her reports - were not.

Iruka turned back to look at the room in mild interest, half hoping he wouldn't say anything at all.

Kakashi ignored whatever undercurrent was zapping in the room and continued amiably. "Oh I was thinking that perhaps there was a purpose to why I would be joining Umino-san on a mission that doesn't require my assistance."

"I didn't ask you to _think_ anything. Just do." The busty blond intoned with surprising patience.

"I see no reason to go with Umino-san." The copy-nin replied a little more firmly.

Something in the way he said it made Iruka mildly offended.

"You're perception of _reason_ has always been sketchy." She countered. "Now leave."

Iruka frowned for a moment not understanding what was happening. "Um, Hokage-sama, if I may clarify, is Hatake-san joining me on my mission?"

"No." She drawled while penning her name at the bottom of a report. "He'll be travelling with you."

"The mission scroll you gave me didn't mention Hatake-san in any way." The chūnin quickly added on principal of politeness, "Not that I mind of course but it's a bit of a surprise, the mission states it's a solo."

Kakashi didn't glace at the brown-haired man as he said, "Mine also says solo."

"Yes?" Tsunade continued to sound completely oblivious to the problem that was currently confusing her two soldiers.

Kakashi raised an eyebrow at the hokage, "Therefore pairing us up would be the antithesis of _solo_."

The hokage finally looked up to stare at Iruka and Kakashi with different levels of irritation. "Hatake, Umino you are to travel together from Konoha to your individual destination. At no point are you to separate until your paths diverge, then and only then can you resume your solo missions. You may arrive back together or separately, your choice." She added with a blunt tone. "There. Was that clear enough for you dolts?"

Both men remained silent for a few moments, Kakashi finding this meeting to be bizarre and unhelpful while Iruka was starting to get what was going on. The silver-haired ninja glanced at the chūnin to his left and saw a small spark of understanding clearing his eyes but a glimmer of irritation blooming on his face, leaving Kakashi baffled to what Iruka may have understood that he didn't. He became even more confused when the chūnin blatantly scoffed then proceeded to give the most powerful woman in the village an annoyed stare.

"Tsunade-sama, you've been roped into this haven't you?" Iruka clicked his tongue; the noise was almost vulgar in the presence of the hokage.

To her credit, Tsunade didn't react. "Umino you've been given a task to do, I don't understand why you're still here."

"Perhaps this meeting wouldn't have extended if we weren't confused to your request which you have all the power to prevent but won't." Iruka was now blatantly arguing no matter how polite his tone was. Kakashi didn't pull out his book because he decided that this silent war, zapping between Hokage and lowly chūnin, to be a rather exciting spectacle.

The hokage gave an acidic stare at the chūnin who held his own glare with admirable tenacity. Much to the copy-nin's surprise it was Tsunade who looked away first with a sigh and a resigned look.

"The kid's gonna give everyone hell if he doesn't get what he wants." She sounded almost imploring. "This is more for him than it is for anyone else, could you indulge him?"

For a moment, it looked like Iruka was about argue back but he sighed and ran his fingers through his dark hair and nodded like that polite obedient chūnin he was expected to be. "Yes Hokage-sama, forgive me for my insolence." He scowled a bit at the end. "I need to go talk to someone, excuse me." With a quick polite bow, the scarred chūnin left before receiving the Hokage's permission.

As if he was an afterthought, the blonde noticed Kakashi still standing there. "What are you still doing here?"

"Despite the fact Iruka-sensei and I have two complete different missions, you're highlighting that we must remain together as long as possible whilst we travel to our separate destinations." The silver-haired ninja pretending to think hard for a few seconds then continued. "So basically I'm his travel buddy…on the request of someone else who was not involved in this meeting."

Tsunade rubbed her temples with poorly disguised exasperation. "Kakashi you're a genius, I know you know what happened now stop bothering me a leave."

The copy-nin gave a one-eyed smile. "This'll be interesting."

Something in Tsunade's eyes sharpened at the man's playful tone. "I must warn you not to irritate Umino more than necessary. You have your own mission to complete."

"Sure, sure." Then the man disappeared before the hokage could warn him further.

ooo

It was two days later when Iruka met Kakashi again.

They departed Konoha at the earliest light and moved south-east at a steady pace. Neither speaking much nor commenting on what their jobs entailed, both ninja maintained a neutral silence between them as they trekked the dwindling paths through the forests. The trees that were thick and large slowly thinned and became sparse and twig-like as they continued their journey. Much to the chūnin's discomfort, Kakashi continued to read that god-awful porn the whole way through.

By the third day, when they finished eating their dinner and Iruka was stroking the fire, Kakashi finally made a comment that threw Iruka off guard.

"Ne, why do you do that?"

The teacher blinked up at the silver-haired man and asked, "Do what?"

"That." Kakashi was leaning against the trunk of a tree and looking absently up at the canopy but his hand gestured to Iruka's fingers. The chūnin looked down at his hand that was using a stick to prod the burning embers of their infantile camp fire and the other hand that lay curled by his side. "You're fingers." The man elaborated with the same lazy drawl. "They keep tapping every time you set the fire up. You did it for the last two days as well."

The scarred chūnin took a moment to understand what Kakashi was talking about then looked back at his hand. He shrugged. It wasn't even a conformation or a denial. The other ninja waited for Iruka to provide more to the answer but the dark haired man continued to stroke the fire to life.

When Kakashi realised that the younger man wasn't going to answer, he commented, "Are you counting?"

He sighed then answered, "Something like that." The younger man seemed a little sheepish that he was caught displaying the quirk. "It helps me concentrate."

"You need to concentrate to make a fire?" was Kakashi's bland reply.

The chūnin found his tone annoying but complied an answer, "I don't like fire." The admission as reluctant but honest, "If I have to build one, I don't want to get burned. So I count anything. The embers cracking under the heat of the fire, or the twigs that snap under your feet, whatever anything is fine." Meditative and repetitive. The copy-nin actually stared at the chūnin for a good minute without saying anything, it made Iruka fidget with discomfort. "What?" Iruka finally snapped when the man didn't stop staring.

"Oh, just wondering why you didn't ask me to set up the fire if you hate it so much."

"I said I didn't like it, didn't say I couldn't make one." The teacher replied a touch defensive.

"Alright but next time I'll do it; you can sit back and relax." It would have seemed like a nice offer if the copy-nin didn't sound so insincere. "You got another other weird habits?" He asked with a playful tone.

"Nothing that's as extreme as reading porn in public."

"Maa, it's not porn." He tutted at Iruka's mistake, "It's called _erotic_ literature."

All he received was a dry looked and a scoff.

"Ah, the ignorance of some people sure do amaze me." He tapped the orange cover of his beloved book and explained, "If you actually read this you'd see the sentence structure and the descriptive prowess of every paragraph to be of a higher calibre to those of 'porn'. The addition of a double stanza in the middle of every chapter actually elevates the reader's intellectual response which is aided by cleverly emulating the average males thought pattern. This effectively makes the entire novel to be the perfect reflection of a typical man's desires but still making it feel unique to every reader." He held up the cover so Iruka could see the book. "Also 'porn' wouldn't have such well fleshed out characters with deep philosophical confliction and a deliciously enticing plot that only leaves you aching for more. Not to mention the signature plot twist at the end of every Icha Icha edition is probably the most anticipated part of the book." The copy-nin leaned back with an air of prideful finality, "This is more than just erotica. This is a piece of art."

Iruka blinked incredulously at the one-eyed man and then sent him a flat expression. "Yeah, it's porn."

Kakashi sighed as he watched the man start to roll out his bed. "If you wish to live in the darkness, there is nothing I can do for you child."

"Hatake, stop talking like that and go to bed."

"I can prove it to you." He opened the book, "Here, let me read you a chapter then you'll see the errors of your ways."

Something unidentifiable shot past Kakashi's head a lightning speed which the copy-nin barely managed to dodge. "Read one words from that piece of garbage and I'll show what else I can do with fire."

The chill between them lessened after that, not by a lot, but the tension was bearable.

ooo

When the travelling pair had reached the end of the thinning tree to a more fertile forest, they stopped upon Iruka's request.

The chūnin was out of sight behind some trees but the copy-nin could still feel his thrumming chakra, so he sat on an idle log, waiting for the younger man to finish whatever it was that he was doing.

There wasn't much Kakashi had expected from travelling with the chūnin. This was a half-arsed babysitting job if anything.

But still, he found some amusement in the way Iruka seemed to be nothing but polite to him. Even when he was being downright vulgar, or when Kakashi suggested that Iruka would make a good house wife considering his cooking was superb. He swore that it was a compliment. The chūnin didn't think so and promptly attempted to melt the skin of his bones with his glare alone.

Their pace was steady but the copy-nin hoped he would separate from the chūnin soon so he could get to his own mission started.

Kakashi's thoughts stopped abruptly and his head snapped to the clove of dense trees where his travel partner was supposed to be hidden.

The teacher's chakra was gone.

"Iruka-sensei?"

The silver haired shinobi stood up with little more that whisper of sound and prowled quietly to the pack of trees. There was no indication that there was something wrong. But the way a still pool of water made you wonder if there were fish in it, Iruka's lack of chakra signal was what was setting off alarms in his head. It just cut off so quickly giving no warning. The most likely reason would be that the chūnin was suddenly killed and all life force in his body was ceasing to exist.

Morbid thoughts that Kakashi found to be all too realistic pushed him to investigate. Not bothering to call out his name again. The copy-nin stealthily snuck his way into the clove of trees and spied for an enemy nin or something else equally antagonistic. Peering into the niche of leaves and branches, Kakashi heard a small rustle where his line of sight couldn't reach. The sound was small but it continued in a repetitive manner.

Kakashi would be proud to tell you, that he'd captured the enemy Nin with little more than a tumble and a graceful tackle to the ground, befitting an elite ninja of his calibre.

But what he couldn't tell you was how the enemy wasn't an enemy at all, but in fact the very man he thought was possibly dead.

"Iruka?"

The teacher in question was pinned beneath him with a kunai dangerously close to his throat, his brown eyes looking up at him in bewilderment and confusion.

"Kakashi-sensei, what on earth are you doing?" he sounded exasperated and little baffled.

The copy-nin blinked then separated himself from the sprawled man with feigned lack of concern. "Just checking you're alive."

Iruka stood up, brushing the dirt from his clothes. "Really? Here I was thinking that my partner wanted to slice my throat open. Good to know I was wrong."

The teacher didn't squeak when the copy-nin suddenly edged way too close to the teacher then comfortable. He'd almost call it sniffing.

"What happened on our first mission together?" Kakashi suddenly asked whilst lifting the kunai closer to Iruka again. Not outright threatening but still somewhat intimidating.

"What?" Iruka blinked. The teacher frowned not at all comprehending what spurned Kakashi to ask such a thing.

"Answer." The man's voice was light but a vein on steel ran underneath.

When the one-eyed ninja continued to gaze at Iruka like he was some kind of parasite waiting for dissection, then the teacher realised what the man wanted. Iruka thought the older shinobi was overly paranoid.

Rubbing his sore shoulder, Iruka sighed and answered, "It was bad but the mission was completed. Comrades almost died because I wasn't shrewd or ruthless enough to make the kill."

Saying it out loud made him want to wince and he resented Kakashi for making him recite it.

"You don't have killer instinct." The comment was blunt, almost unforgiving and completely unnecessary in Iruka's opinion.

"I'm a nin, of course I do." The teacher snapped. "I just priorities life as greater in value than a mission."

"I agree but you're a nin, your priorities never allow you to be blindly guided by compassion alone." His answer was strangely colder than Iruka had expected. "We're paid to be smarter than that."

"We're _paid _to protect." Iruka grounded out harshly.

"Yes, we're paid to protect _our_ people. Not the enemy's."

"He was just a child." Iruka already had this conversation a long time ago; he didn't want to repeat again. "Opponent or not, he was just as much a victim. I chose to be merciful."

"Enemy sympathizer." The statement was blunt and straight to the point.

He'd been called that before. _Enemy Sympathizer_. How he hated the way they spat it out like germ. The teacher had been harshly berated and scorned at for his overly _soft_ heart. It was unbecoming of ninja, especially when his mercy almost cost the lives of his comrades. Iruka hated Kakashi for bringing this up again.

His hands balled in a tight fist, Iruka stared firmly into the copy-nin's sole eye and whispered lowly, "Yes, I know." Iruka's eyes narrowed and faint redness tinged his skin, "And I'm not ashamed of it." Although after a few second, Iruka seemed to deflate marginally, "But I am ashamed that I almost got my fellow comrades killed."

Frosty silence stretched between chūnin and jounin, Kakashi stared dispassionately at the teacher while Iruka supressed his anger and a just a bit of self-loathing. The chūnin was suddenly remarkably tired and wished that the copy-nin had driven that kunai into his neck like he had almost done a moment ago. It'll be whole lot less irritating.

Gods, why were they even fighting at all? This was old news and Iruka knew that Kakashi was just as sympathetic towards life as any other, that much could be deduced from what his former genin had told him.

"Hmm." Was the copy-nin's reply, his posture suddenly less hostile.

Iruka dragged a hand over his face tiredly and with barely concealed annoyance. "You done analysing me?"

For a moment, the copy-nin's eyes narrowed but the heaviness lifted with a sudden smiling curve of his one eye. "Yup."

Iruka snapped at the older ninja again when Kakashi wouldn't stop looking at him. "What is it now?" When would he be rid of this man?

"Why can't I sense your chakra?" A single dark eye scanned Iruka's attire then back at his face. "And what are you wearing?"

A pale green yukata with angled sleeves which stopped at the wrists now replaced the chūnin's dark uniform and flak jacket. He wore a pair of grass sandals with a wooden base, fit for travel but not for fighting. The fabric had a respectable amount of dirt on it but not much wear and tear. A traveling canvas bag was hanging off one shoulder, his previous ninja pack gone from sight, presumably hidden somewhere. His pony tail was the same but for some reason Kakashi noted that the colour of his hair tie had been changed to match the yukata.

Overall, Iruka looked the same but _different._ Completely common and almost painfully like a civilian. It was no wonder the silver haired ninja thought the teacher might have been an imposter.

Iruka-sensei glanced down at his clothes and scratched his nose, feeling a little self-consciousness. "Sorry, I forgot to mention that I needed to blend in with the locals for the rest of my mission."

"Ah…so that's what you were doing behind the bushes." Kakashi intone lightly.

"Well, what did you think I was doing?" It was meant to be rhetorical but Kakashi found the opening for a sly joke to be too tempting.

"Oh, I thought you were doing_ something_ else." The older ninja's polite tone contrasted with what he was implying. "One cannot resist the call of Mother Nature, besides those ration bars are awfully hard on the stomach."

The teacher blinked and suddenly turned away in disgust. "You're filthy."

The older man just smiled at him as the chūnin brushed past him.

"You look like a civilian." Kakashi observed as he caught up with the younger man. "Or a farmer's son or a peasant."

The teacher just hummed, "That's the idea."

"I think you pull it off _too_ well." He couldn't even see any weapons on the man, which would make any self-respecting ninja feel naked. "The commoner look suits you, you should stick with it."

The chūnin ignored the comment and adjusted the bag on his shoulder with some discomfort. "As for the first question, I've placed a seal to contain my chakra for now." Iruka didn't miss the way Kakashi scanned his body, looking for a possible place it could be. "It's for the same reason I changed my appearance. I not only need to look like a 'peasant' - as you so delicately put it - but I also need to _feel_ like one too."

Undercover. That much was obvious from what the teacher had revealed. It was a bit unexpected but then again, something like that seemed to suit the chūnin. He was all together quite unremarkable in appearance but still approachable despite the lack of presence.

With a surprising amount of seriousness, the copy-nin asked, "Is that wise? You have no back up, to have you're chakra sealed off, it puts you at a great disadvantage if you come across danger."

"It's only temporal." Iruka lifted his left sleeve and flashed the tattoo-like seal on his upper arm. The same place Kakashi had his ANBU seal. It was four dots in a diamond shape. "It's time based so it'll disappear on its own when the seal expires." He pulled his yukata sleeve down. "I've set mine for ten days."

The sudden discussion about missions brought a strange feeling of seriousness to their – up until then – laidback journey. Kakashi for reasons unknown found that he wasn't so keen to leave the teacher so soon. Having no chakra and almost near defenceless, the chūnin seemed as bare and unprepared as a pre-genin. The flimsy cotton yukata and open-toed sandals only emphasized his vulnerability.

Ten days was an awfully long time for anything to go wrong. And being ninja, you always expect something to go wrong based on principle alone.

If it was Iruka's intention to look so completely soft and defenceless, then he was doing an excellent job. Enough so that it was starting to affect Kakashi's judgement.

Pushing away the sudden feeling of discontent he asked, "I didn't know you were adept in fūinjutsu?"

"Picked it up here and there." The brown eyed teacher just shrugged, "I only know the basics."

Hmm, that was interesting. Kakashi was also familiar with the art of sealing, being taught by none other than Minato-sensei himself. Although many ninjas used seals, for some reason he didn't expect the scarred chūnin to be one of them. But now that he thought about it, the assumption was heavily prejudiced and the chūnin's skill in the area actually made sense. Iruka had fine control with his chakra and had a studious and academic mind. With a dash of artistic flare, that was all you needed to handle the basics of fūinjutsu.

Although 'picking it up here and there' was neither an accurate nor convincing reason. That wasn't how fūinjutsu worked. Kakashi almost stared too long at the weird chūnin. Little doe-eyed teacher was a liar.

It seemed Iruka didn't miss the strange look in the copy-nin's eye. He brushed past him and stepped back onto the almost non-existent path. "We should keep moving Hatake."

ooo

They walked throughout the afternoon and only stopped for lunch. Iruka hummed and Kakashi read.

"I'm sorry about before. I shouldn't have interrogated you like that." Kakashi's voice drawled from behind the book cover, sounding bored and nothing more.

The teacher judged whether he meant it, then shrugged.

"It's fine." And he meant it. "Just don't do it again."

The jounin didn't reply and continued reading.

ooo

It drizzled a bit.

Kakashi hated the damp weather. Iruka seemed to love it. The copy-nin found the chūnin a little more intolerable.

The copy-nin's eyes scanned the willowy trees and tall oaks with feigned disinterest. He continued to do so without a word for the rest of the miserable day.

He didn't pull his book out. Iruka was relieved.

ooo

The stars chased away the last remnants of the sunlight and the two ninjas camped under the welcoming roof of a willow tree. Cradled under its leafy tendrils the cool air danced lightly around their camp.

Kakashi made the fire before Iruka could make attempt at the hazardous job. He didn't know if he should thank him so he didn't say anything at all.

They ate a rare serving of cold 'mush' as Kakashi called it. It was runny, plain and tasted like muddy chalk. Oppose to the usual ration bars, it was positively delectable.

Kakashi's eyes never left the open space outside their camp, his mind far away as he continued to stand vigil. He remained so throughout most of the night.

He didn't pull out his book once. Iruka was worried.

ooo

Dawn arrived in the most unspectacular fashion. Grey, misty and cold. Nature wasn't at all beautiful, not when your feet were ice blocks.

Their camp was cleaned and their faces and teeth washed for the journey ahead. This would be their last day together.

Iruka didn't know if he liked Kakashi's company, the man was too irritating for that, but they would diverge soon and for some inexplicable reason the teacher was getting separation anxiety.

Unknown to the Iruka, Kakashi was also feeling the same anxiousness but for a different reason. Whilst his posture screamed 'I-just-woke-up-and-too-lazy-to-clean-my-bed', his eyes were polar opposite. The copy-nin didn't like this morning. Something felt off.

Iruka must have seen something wrong in the copy-nin's demeanour so he asked, "Kakashi-sensei, is something wrong?"

It took a second too long for the older ninja to reply. "No." he adjusted his back pack. "Let's go."

The scenery changed drastically from tall oaks and willows to a jagged landscape of pine and water. The humming of rushing rivers could be heard from some unknown place in the distance. Soon multiple plains of sudden plateaus and massive drop-offs littered the landscape almost like majestic crown cutting through the scenery.

They had reached the southern peninsula that connected Fire country and Tea country.

This is where they would part.

When the fork in the dirt path split in opposite directions both ninjas stopped at the conjoining apex of the road. Standing in silence and waiting for something to happen, the sound of the wind was the only thing that sounded conversational. Kakashi was more than ready to give a light salute and goodbye to his travel companion but he found that he didn't move.

Much to his relief the teacher broke their silence with a question.

"You're mission, could I ask what it is?" the question was quiet, the copy-nin might not have heard it if he wasn't standing right next to him.

The older shinobi pointed to his right. "A section of a forest west of here has been getting increasing activity of highway crime." The silver haired ninja shrugged in a non-committing manner which he was particularly proud of. "Nothing too serious, just need to check it out, just in case it's got something to do with ninjas. If it is, deal with it. If not, scare them off. Simple."

The teacher nodded, looking in the opposite direction at the path that he would be taking for the rest of his journey. The thin, dwindling road seemed almost too large now.

"I'm sorry Kakashi-sensei." The jounin blinked at the sudden apology, not at all expecting it. "I know you didn't want to travel together.

Kakashi watched in interest as the teacher pulled something out from his sleeve, the object obscured completely by his closed palm.

"Naruto, he wouldn't let me go alone." The teacher scoffed fondly. "Honestly, it's not like I need to be looked after. But after everything that's happened, I don't think Naruto wants to take the gamble anymore."

Kakashi found Iruka to be too pensive for his taste, so he commented, "Naw, he just doesn't want to gamble on _you_ specifically." He didn't want to sound comforting, but somehow it did.

A dry chuckle emerged from Iruka's throat and he shook his head. "I feel too coddled."

"He gets the habit from you." The words were surprisingly not judgemental, just a statement to an observation.

"I'd be flattered, if I weren't so miffed that he insisted _you_ came with me."

"Insisted? Before we left, Naruto found the time to explain how he'd castrate me with a fork if I didn't bring you back alive." The copy-nin feigned a shudder then gave the teacher a one-eyed smile. "Besides, I'm not so bad."

Iruka hummed in agreement. "Yeah, like the way a rash on your groin isn't so bad."

"Maa, maa Iruka-sensei, you mustn't keep referring to my crotch all the time or I'll get the wrong idea."

"The next time we discuss your nether region, it'll be when I show it back to you, severed on a silver platter." With a sweet smile that belied his caustic words, Iruka held tightly onto the object in his hand.

The banter was good, it seemed almost normal and somehow managed to chase away the strange unease in Kakashi's stomach.

"My mission is probably going to take longer than yours." Iruka began again. Ten days Kakashi thought. Ten days doing some undercover mission that Iruka would breeze through with smiles and chiding wise advice. "It might be even longer should complications arise." The doe-eyed chūnin turned to face Kakashi, something in his demeanour making the masked nin tense a little. "Could you…"

The teacher suddenly became bashful, not as confident as he seemed a moment ago. The change piqued the masked ninja's curiosity. "Yes?"

Iruka scratched behind his ear with uncertainty, "You don't have to do it, I know that you're pretty busy and…" The chūnin realised that he was beginning to digress so he took a breath and looked at Kakashi in the eye. "Could you do me a favour?"

The copy-nin tilted his head in undisguised curiosity as Iruka held up his palm and opened his finger, a silvery chain glittering as it unravelled.

The most mesmerizing blue stone dangled at the bottom, its colour so azure and liquid that it almost looked like a droplet of luminescent water. The beauty of the jewels 'light' made one wonder if touched, would it feel viscous? Would it leave a wet stain on your finger? Tactile yet fragile. It wasn't a precious stone, not like a diamond or sapphire but there was definitely something undeniably stunning about the pendant that drew a feeling of _warmth_, an inexplicable feeling of home. Like a curl of a gentle touch or an embrace. Its _blue_ was like no other. Except for one. The same shade was found in the eyes of someone that connected them both.

Iruka too was staring into the pendant and gave a small but genuine smile at Kakashi's open appreciation for its beauty.

"I got a friend to make it chakra sensitive. It probably isn't worth much in terms of chemical purity but I thought the shade was familiar." Indeed it was. The chūnin pinned the older ninja with a soft look that only made him uncomfortable. "Kakashi, when you get back home, could you give this to Naruto?"

The request was simple but Iruka made it sound like he'd just given Kakashi something of unsurmountable importance. The heaviness of the request matched the feeling one got when the hokage ordered you to come back alive, with no casualties. It made him nervous. _Give it to him yourself. _But for some reason he nodded and answered, "Sure."

He lifted his hand to accept the necklace but it never made it into his palm.

Kakashi blinked in surprise when Iruka unlinked the chain and stepped even closer than he was before. His finger reached behind the older nin's neck fumbled with the chain till it closed together with a click. The teacher pulled the stone forward and centred it squarely on Kakashi's sternum, a look of approval glinting in his warm eyes, a bit of the blue reflecting off his brown irises.

"Thank you Kakashi."

_Why don't you stay with me for a little while Iruka-sensei? I've got a funny feeling and it'll soothe my paranoia if I could keep an eye on you._

It sounded ridiculous in his head and it was mildly insulting to the other man's rank. Iruka-sensei was a full-fledged shinobi and very _sensitive_, he'd definitely find it patronising. So he watched the academy teacher walked to the east, his figure gradually growing smaller and smaller till he could no longer see him.

Discontent was churning in his stomach and the blue orb around his neck was now weighing too much. After all, Kakashi had a bad track record of keeping things that were precious.

He'd come to regret his decision to leave the teacher alone.

ooo

Those bandits that Kakashi was supposed to search for were remarkably easy to find.

Because they were all dead. Hanging from the trees.

Graceless and mangled, the bodies were still warm whilst they dangled limply from the canopy like some sickening imitation of décor in a lantern festival.

They'd been slaughtered by bandits that preyed on the loot of _other _bandits. Clever. Definitely a group of ninja no higher than chūnin rank but what they lacked in power they made up in number and brutality. The blood was still dripping from one of the dead bandits as a blade grotesquely stuck out from to poor bastard's eye socket.

If they were capable of fighting other armed criminals, than they wouldn't have no problem terrorizing mere travellers and civilians. Definitely not good. As his mission had stated, Kakashi would have to deal with it.

Footprints were left in an almost audacious way. They didn't even bother trying to hide their trail. Cocky. This made his job easier.

Jumping from branch to branch, Kakashi followed the trail of blood, sweat, oil and broken braches in order to find the rogue killers. As he continued to track, the masked shinobi became increasingly uneasy as time went on. The direction he was headed was cutting too close to the trail that he and Iruka had been walking that morning. If the killers had continued in the direction that he predicted they were going, they would intersect directly with the chūnin's path in the east.

Something in the copy-nin's stomach sank.

Iruka would be completely oblivious to the danger encroaching behind him, he who had next to no chakra at all.

Defenceless as newborn, hung from a tree like a scarecrow of brown on brown. The academy teacher would be slaughtered and that alone was just so _wrong_. He suppressed a growl.

Kakashi increased his speed, bolting through the trees, his heart suddenly thrumming fast as he realised how stupid he was for not listening to his instincts. He knew something had been amiss since that morning. No, he knew since _before_ that.

Yet he had done nothing. Feeling oddly compliant and somewhat reassured that nothing would happen, he ignored the signs that were so glaringly obvious now. The silence on the roads, no passing travellers, and the damned bad luck that always made certain that this would happen to Kakashi on a mission.

He was a ninja for god's sake. Bad luck was an accessory they wore in their hair. He should have known.

It was that damned chūnin. As soon as they had left the village, the entire trip felt way _too_ relaxed and leisurely, the chūnin being the main reason for the unusually calm atmosphere, he just secreted compliancy from his pores like a bad odour. Missions weren't meant to be calm. They were meant to be tense, violent and high-strung. The copy-nin gritted his teeth and decided that it was all Iruka's fault.

A flash to the left had Kakashi ducking as a sharp knife speed past his head and lodged itself into the tree with a loud 'thwack'. He swung around the trunk of a tree to stop his momentum and crouched gracefully on a branch.

Found them.

Three came at him with knives and swords gleaming in the dappled light of the forest canopy. Not even caring who he was, these bandits just found something else to slaughter through. The fought him, swinging and clashing their blades in unison as they hacked into the copy-nin with barely organised fervour. Not one of them even managed to get the jounin's foot to move from the branch he was currently standing on. Kakashi misdirected an incoming katana with a flick of his kunai and found the man's neck to be painfully unguarded. He sank the blade into the criminal's jugular and sliced it open with practiced ease.

One down, two to go.

The second bandit didn't even glance at his dead comrade as he stepped over him and threw a series of smoke bombs where Kakashi was perched. With surprising skill, the man whipped out a cord of steel wire and charged it with chakra. He threw the wire around the tree and pulled, cutting the trunk cleanly in half and along with it, the copy-nin.

He smirked as the silver haired ninja sliced in half and fell the floor in two bloody bit of flesh. His smile soon disappeared when the Konoha nin was suddenly just a severed piece of log. Replacement jutsu. He sneered.

The second man's thought never progressed further due to the fact that Kakashi had now lodged a blade in his back, twisted it then drew it out with one clean movement. The bandit slumped onto the floor, the stolen good that were strapped onto his back, now pressed onto his head.

Two down. One to go.

The last bandit, to his credit didn't seem all that fazed by Kakashi's relative ease with disposing of the man's teammates. Kakashi decided that the man was remarkably stupid.

This time the copy-nin didn't wait and launched an attack first. Two shurikens flew into the air and were cancelled by the bandits own throwing knives. The bandit pressed his hand to the ground after a series of hand seals and pumped chakra into the earth. Suddenly the grounded exploded and Kakashi leaped back into the trees to hide from the flying debris. The smoke and dirt made his vision limited to only three metres around him so it was his nose that alerted the presence of his enemy behind him. A gleaming blade swung down in an arc above him, the bandit yelled out as he attempted to lop off the masked nin's head. The blade only met another branch.

The bandit never saw the sudden kick from below that raptured his nose and sent the shards of broken bones into his brain. He was dead before he hit the ground.

Kakashi didn't even wait for the man to hit the floor as he bolted out of the trees and continued running from branch to branch.

He'd just killed three bandits but the numbers were all wrong. It was too little, there must have been more men up ahead, closer to the place where his reluctant travel partner was travelling. He hoped that Iruka had decided to hide behind some random bush again because he didn't think these bandits were going to just ignore him. From what he'd just seen, these bandits weren't just criminals, they were greedy and _unhinged_. Not a good mix and Iruka's current 'civilian' image would be too irresistible for them to ignore.

ooo

So slowly did they creep closer, manic greed and hunger dancing wildly in their eyes.

Iruka found that he was suddenly surrounded. Thirteen to one.

He'd known they were coming, he'd known since an hour ago and he was prepared for it. There were too many, far too many. He will be over powered and they will take him.

With a small grin that baffled his attackers, the chūnin tighten the bag on his shoulder and drew out his blades with expert ease.

If he was going down, he'd cut, maim and drag them down with him.

ooo

Two were dead, lying limply at the chūnin's feet.

The remaining eleven attackers glared viciously at the lowly man that had somehow taken down two of their men. His lithe body crouched in a defensive pose, his arm held up with a kunai guarding his face. The small little thing looked frazzled and tense and for some reason, completely at ease.

Unacceptable. The leader of the bandits was a tall, burly man and he suddenly knew this would be a problem. He no longer saw the small man as a traveling civilian but a nuisance that needed to be taken out.

The man with the scar and ponytail suddenly jumped and moved back into the forest, not waiting for the cohort of murderous bandits to catch up to him. He climbed up a tree in the middle of a rare clearing of grass and perched himself at the very top.

Two more bandits edged at the clearing and began to run up to the tree the teacher was sitting in liked a stranded cat. They never made past the daffodils as the ground suddenly erupted in a storm of rock, grass and dirt. Paper bombs littered the perimeter around the tree. The field was a trap.

Before the chūnin could celebrate his victory, a flying dagger shot through the haze of debris and lodged itself firmly into the teacher's forearm. Thrown off his balance, Iruka tried to stick his feet to the tree but found that he couldn't. His chakra had been sealed. He crashed onto the grassy floor with a painful thump and groaned as he felt a rib break.

A shining arc of a blade swung down on him before he could get up and Iruka knew that if it didn't chop his head clean off his shoulder than he'd definitely lose an arm.

The impact never came.

The very man who had just tried to cut him down was now sprawled at Iruka's feet, hot blood pooling slowly from the shuriken to the forehead.

He blinked in surprise as he watched the lean figure of Sharingan Kakashi poised protectively over him, the man's back facing him and a blade twirling in his hands with deceptive playfulness.

"Kakashi-Sensei." Iruka managed to mutter in undisguised relief. He crawled back to his feet, ignoring the sharp pain in his arm and ribs.

The silver haired ninja didn't turn around. "Maa, sensei, you sure do have a knack for getting into trouble."

Iruka ignored the comment and quickly spoke. "Five are down already, there are eight more left." He decidedly tried not to be offended at Kakashi's surprise at his words. "Their leader is a lot stronger than the rest, jounin level for sure, the rest just follow him."

The older nin nodded then lightly instructed, "When I give you the signal, I want you to run and go back to the main road. I'll deal with these guys."

Iruka suddenly grasped onto the copy-nin's arm and turned him around so they were looking at each other. "What the hell do you mean run back? They're too many of them, you can't do this alone."

Kakashi sent a rather annoyed expression. "Sensei, with all due respect, you don't know how I fight, I _can_ deal with them. With ease." He turned his eyes back to the edges of the field where the remaining five bandits were slowly approaching. "But you're the variable I can't account for right now. You're injured and tired and most importantly, you have absolutely no chakra. You can't assist me as well as you might have before you had yourself sealed." With some finality he added coldly, "You're a liability, you'll only get in the way. Now leave."

Just as he finished talking, a torrent of shuriken flew in their direction. Kakashi was already on his feet and jumped high into the air whist carrying the brown eyed teacher in his arms. When they were a safe distance away from the flying projectiles, Kakashi gave Iruka a firm look and then pushed the teacher towards the opening in the forest wall and shot of the ground towards the eight remaining bandits.

Iruka was about ten metres into the forest and stopped to punch the nearest tree in a burst of anger and frustration.

Damn that Kakashi and his superiority complex and damn his stupid reasoning because no matter how pissed off the chūnin was, Kakashi was right. In his current state, Iruka was nothing more than a distraction that would need saving like some invalid child. Nothing more than a…_distraction…_

He frowned than blinked.

A distraction! If that was all he was, than he sure as hell was going to make the most of it. Just like he taught his students, he had to be resourceful when he had absolutely nothing.

With a sudden bout of clarity, the scarred teacher turned to look back at the field where Kakashi was fighting. He couldn't see anything but he could hear the clanging of metal on metal and the ground rumbling. When the dust settled, Iruka could finally see what was happening.

A man was dead and six more were circling around Kakashi whist he held off the leader with two kunai in his hands. The leader was definitely jounin level but Kakashi could deal with him with certainty. But the six remaining cronies were the reason why the copy-nin hadn't finished the fight sooner. They were incessantly crowding onto Kakashi; the bandit leader hardly had to do anything whilst his underlings moved like an extension of his arm.

It was then that Iruka realised the small detail that wasn't in the picture.

The loot. The stolen goods weren't anywhere on the bandits, not even the leader had the ransacked merchandise. Their fighting took a great deal of attention away from anything else, and it seemed that the idiots still hadn't recognised the legendary Copy-Nin. If they had, they would've run the other way by now.

Iruka decided that he was bloody ninja and Kakashi was _not_ going to dictate how Iruka would survive this. With that sentiment in mind, the teacher bolted towards the place he _knew _the stash to be.

ooo

It was taking longer than Kakashi had originally anticipated.

His opponents were second rate at best, but a jounin level added with six chūnin nin were still numbers that weren't in his favour. Avoiding a slash to the neck, the copy-nin leaped into the air as several projectiles zoomed past his head, and landed in the tree Iruka had been perched in not too long ago. He hoped that the teacher was far away from here.

As his mind lingered on the brown eyed man he felt little guilty at his last words to him but the masked nin still stood by what he'd said. Iruka _was _a liability, but it was more than that. These bandits were from _his _mission, they were _his _responsibility. Of course the gods decided to get the chūnin involved and Kakashi would not allow it to jeopardize the teacher's own path. Iruka's death was completely _unacceptable_.

The satisfying sound of crushing bone met his ears as he snapped the other man's spine in half then promptly kicked his face into the ground with violent force.

Six left now.

It was while Kakashi was dodging a lethal kick to the temple, that he saw a movement in his peripheral vision. When he saw who it was, he swore out loud and kicked his opponent in the mouth, teeth and blood spraying into the sky like a bloodied fountain.

What the hell was the suicidal chūnin still doing here?

It seemed that the teacher had also gotten the attention of the five assailants.

When a small grin appeared on the scarred face of the teacher, his hands slowly moved from around his back and lifted up the bag in his hand with the most shit-eating grin plastered across his face.

He had the bandit's large bag of stolen money and goods.

_Come and get it you spineless bastards, _was what the chūnin's face seemed to say. Then with a taunting wink, Kakashi watched in rapt horror as Iruka bolted into the trees without a moment notice.

The bandit leader roared out in rage and bolted ran after the chūnin without even bothering to finish his battle with Kakashi. Surprised by the beastly man's absence, the copy-nin tensed up to follow but the remaining four enemies held him off. Growling with annoyance Kakashi threw several smoke bombs and bolted after the idiot.

If Iruka got himself killed because of this, he refused to apologize to Naruto. One couldn't be held responsible for the death of someone so utterly stupid.

ooo

He made a wrong turn and found himself standing at the edge of waterfall precipice.

The tall ninja crashed through the curtain of trees and stopped a few metres away from Iruka. The bandit leader grinned viciously as he cornered the teacher, a lustful gleam in his eyes.

"Give me the bag." It was the first time Iruka had heard him talk and voice was as rough as his face.

"Come and get it." The chūnin taunted and was glad his voice didn't waver when he heard some rocks spill over the edge of the cliff.

The man laughed loud and low, apparently very amused at the mousy man with brown eyes. "You have nowhere to go. So be a good boy and had over the goods."

The chūnin bristled at the patronisation and then decided he had enough of this man. "No." The teacher's eye hardened and the smallest of a smile graced the chūnin's lips.

The burly bandit inched closer in warning as he saw something cold harden in the smaller man's eyes.

Iruka fisted the top of the bag with one hand and held it over the edge of the watery cliff. "You want this so bad?" the chūnin's grin was more than a little diabolical. He baited the loot and swung it high in the air. "Go jump for it."

Then Iruka let the bag go and watched it fall into the abyss below.

"NO!" roared the rogue criminal with barely contained manic. Iruka saw it when something terrible snapped in the man's eyes and took a step back.

If he thought the man was a little unhinged before, he was downright homicidal now.

Before the chūnin could react, the monstrous man tackled him down on the ground at the very edge of the cliff and grabbed Iruka roughly by the neck. He laughed as Iruka chocked for air and his face turned red, spit flying as swore at the teacher. The thief leader savoured the rage as his powerful hands violently shook Iruka by the neck like he was some rag doll. Scratching and crushing the air out of the smaller man's lungs. The disgusting little man will pay for dumping his treasure down the waterfall.

A languid shade of purple began to stain the teacher's lips as his body struggled without oxygen. The beastly man thought the colour was beautiful.

Iruka was dying and it was so much more violent than he'd ever imagined. His head kept thumping against the ground as his attacker wrung his neck and crushed his vocal chords. Never had he felt a crushing so heavy and so _suffocating_.

Somehow Iruka clung to consciousness and grabbed onto the front of the bandit's clothes and pulled against the chain around his neck with whatever strength he had left. He couldn't tell you what the pendant was but he knew it was made of gold and _sharp_.

Knowing all that he needed, he ripped off the piece of jewellery and slammed it into the man's eye.

The man's screamed was dull compared the rushing of blood into his head and the oxygen he sucked up in rabid desperation. His vision was blotchy and he couldn't seem to tell what was up or down but he knew that the beastly man was still on top of him, pressing his body with his crushing weight.

It was then that Iruka realised that the ground beneath him was beginning to crumble.

His heart stuttered to a stop as he realised that he was going to fall down.

His attacker ripped out the sharp piece of metal from his eyes and watched the great monster of a man salivate for his blood. He couldn't move, he could hardly breathe and all there was left to do was either face the crazy bandit above him or face the giant drop-off below him.

After a moment, he closed his eyes and made his choice.

ooo

Something in his heart stuttered to a stop when Kakashi crashed through the forest and hoped to all that was good in the world that Iruka was still alive, but only to watch the chūnin wrangle the massive man above him and drag him down the watery drop-off.

He watched in almost slow motion as Iruka grabbed onto the man and pull him over with him as they tumbled off the cliff. In the last few moments, Kakashi's eye met Iruka's warm brown and only saw steeled determination.

Then he was gone.

The copy-nin must've been in shock because he didn't even move when he heard the remaining group of rogue criminals approaching him from behind. He just stared at the crumbling piece of land that Iruka had just been sprawled on, but now it remained painfully empty. Iruka was gone.

Somebody grabbed him from behind but Kakashi didn't even think as he lashed out and round-housed whoever it was that had broken him out of his horrified spell.

He growled at himself and shook his head. They may not have been close but Kakashi _knew _Iruka was not dead. The damn teacher was alive and would remain so until he saw his lifeless body for himself.

With that resolve in mind, he ignored the bandits running after him and catapulted himself off the ground and jumped.

ooo

Iruka spluttered to the surface, coughing and choking as he battled the water rapids. His back hit a boulder and clung to it like lichen to stone.

So tired. Everything hurt, why couldn't the world stop spinning?

Exhausted brown eyes landed on a prone body not too far away from where he stationed himself. It was that horrible bandit leader. Iruka knew immediately that the man was dead. His head was the very definition of 'cracked eggs' and his neck was at a most unnatural angle.

Good riddance, his mind seemed to muster out vindictively.

ooo

Kakashi remembered falling, then having the most ridiculous experience of fighting in the middle of the _air. _How could a bunch of simple bandits be so god damn persistent? It boggled him.

Then something – maybe one of the rogue bandits or maybe it was just a jutting rock that decided Kakashi had caused it some offence – had hit him soundly on the back of the head.

The explosion of white was accompanied by a hot blast of pain then all that followed was watery darkness.

ooo

The rapids pushed both Konoha nin to the banks of a muddy shore, drenched and miserable.

One was crawling his way up to dry land while the other lay still as a dead fish.

With monumental effort, Iruka lumbered over to his unconscious partner and feared the masked nin was dead. There were traces of blood leaking onto the wet ground, making the most unappealing colour of muddy red. But much to the chūnin's relief, the jounin was still breathing, his body being as stubborn as the man himself.

Iruka honestly didn't expect to find Kakashi drenched next to him, the last he saw of the jounin was right before Iruka had made the suicidal jump. Had the irritating jounin really jumped after him?

The teacher gently cupped the older man's cheek and moved wet strands of silver hair from his face.

It was probably the most inappropriate time for Iruka to be feeling _warm _towards the man but he suddenly appreciated that it was Kakashi that had travelled with him, glad that it was this annoying, vulgar man that had jumped down a _cliff _for him.

Suddenly Kakashi's hand snapped onto Iruka's wrists with alarming strength and gripped on tight. The jounin's eyes didn't open however.

Iruka barely had time to think about what happened due to the blade that missed his ear by a centimetre. His eyes moved to the bandit perched on a rock in the middle of the river, his body dripping wet and his arms getting ready to begin a new assault.

They were still following them? Iruka wanted to curse at these tenacious cockroaches. That was when Iruka realised that they probably thought he still had their loot.

Kakashi was still out cold but he'd be alright if Iruka could draw their pursuers away. With that in mind, Iruka began to run into the unfamiliar forest whilst ignoring the sudden dizzy spell erupting in his head. It worked. The bandit was following him, thinking that the brown eyed teacher was still holding their money.

Iruka found a cove of thick branched and leaves which was unusually dense and compact. With some effort he dived into the niche and hid himself for as long as he could.

The scarred teacher must have been waiting there for about five minutes when his ears picked up on the sound of clashing metal on metal. It was faint but it was the unmistakable sound of fighting which didn't make any sense because Iruka was in here, not out there. Who else could they be fighting?

_Kakashi. _The answer came to him immediately. He must have woken up and now he was battling god knows how many of those thieves that followed them down the ravine.

Without hesitating, Iruka jumped out of hiding place and ran towards the sounds of clinging metal and clashing blades. Iruka didn't know what he would do when he got there since he was injured and had no weapons or chakra but he didn't care. The two unlikely partners started this journey together and they were going to finish it together.

He got so close but Iruka never made it to Kakashi's side.

The assailant that he'd been baiting before had found him and kicked him hard in the stomach before the teacher could react. He could taste blood in his mouth as he wheezed for air. He suddenly found himself on his back again for the second time that day with a man pressing his weight on top on him with feral intent to maim. Iruka's reflexes allowed him to intercept the blade that suddenly came flying towards him, but his left palm took the full brunt of the blade. The chūnin hissed has he felt the palm slice wide open and hot dribbles of blood oozing out like a dam. Despite the pain, he didn't let the man edge the blade anywhere close to his face.

Iruka and his unknown attacker struggled silently for possession of the blade as they glared at each other in stalemate. But Iruka was losing because he hardly had any strength left and the longer he held out, the closer that blade inched to his bruised neck.

He closed his eyes for a moment and wished he was still in Konoha, teaching his devil spawn students how to hold a kunai. He'd probably never see them again. And that alone was heartbreaking.

The distant sound of fighting brought his attention to Hatake and Iruka suddenly felt bad for leaving him to fight alone when he tried so hard to battle alongside the copy-nin as an equal, as a comrade.

Even if Iruka died, Kakashi would still win. That was comforting in a morbid way.

Whatever thoughts Iruka was entertaining was cut off but the sound of a thousand birds chirping in a chaotic hum of noise. He'd never heard it before but he knew what it was immediately. Chidori.

His attacker was distracted for the tiniest of seconds and that was all he needed.

Iruka pushed forwards and slammed him knee into the man's crotch with lethal force, then twisted the kunai out of his attacker's hands and stabbed it into the man's temple.

It was so fast and Iruka hardly remembered how he came from accepting his death to standing over his victim's dead body, but he relished it. Then he promptly fell to the ground in an exhausted heap. He didn't care if god himself orders told him to, Iruka was never going to willingly seal away his chakra again. It was way more trouble than it was worth.

ooo

Iruka must have blacked out for a few seconds because the next thing he heard was deafening silence. It was so strange and so _wrong _to hear nothing after the torrent of chaos and noise from the last hour of battling.

The chūnin stumbled to his feet with all the grace of a drunken cow and slowly moved to find Kakashi.

Iruka felt staggering relief when he saw Kakashi's figure standing over the bodies of his attackers. They'd won and somehow both lived through it. It was a gloriously rewarding feeling after all that trouble.

But whatever joy he felt was gone the instant the copy-nin's gaze fell onto him.

His single eye was so _cold_, so unfeeling and hostile that Iruka felt frozen on the spot. It was when he blinked again that he found himself crushed under Kakashi's body with a kunai to his throat. He felt a jolt of fear run down his spine as the silver haired man peeled his skin with his eyes.

The next words stopped all activity in his head and left Iruka even more dumfounded and the tiniest bit hopeless.

"Who are you?"

* * *

**A/N: **The events that lead up to their misadventure. Sure is going to fun from here on. And awkward.

CADEL


	3. Chapter 3

**Bringing Lines Together**

By Cadel

* * *

CHAPTER 3

* * *

[Astriction]

When Kakashi left, everything that resembled normalcy crawled away with him.

With a low hiss and a hostile glare, the man that had jumped down a cliff for Iruka had all but dismissed him with homicidal intent and cold suspicion. The chūnin found that after his wayward partner had disappeared beyond the trees, all the teacher could do was try to collect his senses and whatever salvageable equipment and food he could find. Ignoring his aches and pains, the ninja marched after the jounin with forced hope and the tiniest trace of fear.

Darkness encroached and a blanket of hazy stars glittered through the small spaces in the dark, looming canopy. Iruka found that for the first time in his life, he didn't find the trees at all appealing.

It was in a small niche of tangled trunks and dry bark that he found the copy-nin sitting against the roots of some small oak. He was relieved since he had convinced himself that Kakashi must be already been long gone by now but found him to immobile and still. Iruka moved closer and found it mildly alarming that Kakashi hadn't woken up to the sound of breaking twig under the chūnin's feet. The teacher crouched in front of the silver haired jounin and inspected his comrade with care.

Tired, worn out and suffering from chakra exhaustion but overall Kakashi was fine. With some distaste, Iruka noted that he was in worse conditions than the copy-nin but somehow knew he would have to look after the other. With an irritated sigh, the academy teacher pulled out the stolen medical kit and begun to peel away layers of clothing so he could properly asses the jounin's injuries with better access.

Not a moment later, his finger snapped with a grotesque sound. A pale hand curled ruthlessly around his broken joint.

Iruka choked back a withering moan and gurgle of air as his mutilated throat refused to produce a scream. Dear lord, the dry snapping bone sounded worse than the pain. He could only widen his eyes in shock as Kakashi held a vice grip on his hand.

"Don't touch me." Was Kakashi's hissed whisper. Iruka wanted to draw his broken finger back but the movement only agitated the disconnected joint and shot more pain up his elbow. He nodded with some vigour to convey that he would obey and eventually after a cold stare, the copy-nin let his mangled fingers go.

The doe-eyed teacher quickly moved back a few paces and gracelessly landed on his rear trying to put some distance between him and Kakashi. The jounin just stared dispassionately at Iruka's alarmed withdrawal. The man was clearly not at all remorseful that he'd just snapped Iruka's right ring finger without a moment's thought.

The teacher knew it was there, he saw it before but it was now more evident than ever.

He was wearing Hatake Kakashi's face but it no longer resembles the lackadaisical man that Iruka had known. No. This man was not Kakashi but a hostile, belligerent and silently dangerous individual. Most poignantly noted was the apparent lack of recognition he had for Iruka. There was absolutely nothing there when he looked at the teacher, not a trace of irritation, patronisation or even the rare warm glint in the single dark eye. Kakashi was gone, and this vitriolic and wildly unrecognisable man was all that sat in his place.

_He really doesn't know me. _

Something cold and tangled slowly unfurled in Iruka's gut as he watched Kakashi stand up to leave him for the third time that day.

ooo

It was well into the night and Kakashi found a cleverly hidden cluster of branches high up some tall tree. He would rest here for the night since he had no intentions of continuing his aimless trek through the forest.

Heavy eyes closed as the distant sound of an owl hooted in the dark distance, Kakashi let his exhausted mind and body finally relieved itself of the strain he suffered through the day. But it was not to last. Ten minutes into his light slumber, Kakashi's ear twitched him awake. The crunching of dead leaves and rustling of branches and foliage seemed to echo from below. The noise was indeed very quiet, hardly a noticeable outlier in the natural hum of the forest but to the copy-nin's ears, they were as loud as banging drum.

And below his resting place was the source of the sound.

That scarred civilian was stumbling his way through the column of trees, finding his way through the scratching branches and hostile mosquitoes with an irritating look of baffled obliviousness. He wouldn't know that he'd just ruined Kakashi's sleep with his stomping. No, the man of brown on brown looked left then right, as if trying to decide which way to go but seemed he couldn't come to a decision. How he got this far in the pitch darkness of the night without tripping to his death was a wonder.

The silver haired shinobi arched his neck below and watched the younger man finally huff a sigh then promptly drop himself between the roots of a tall tree. The very same tree Kakashi was perched on.

There was something supremely annoying about this man. He'd just had to choose the _one _tree out of _thousands _that happened to be where the copy-nin chose to sleep for the night. Was the entire forest not big enough for the both of them?

With one silent movement Kakashi stood up without rustling a single leaf and leaped away. He'd find somewhere else to sleep. He didn't like the current tree he was in anyway, too lumpy.

It was about ten minutes of moving west when Kakashi stopped for the second time and deemed a fit elderly oak tree to be his cradle for the night. Not wasting anytime, the silver haired ninja quickly shut his eyes and fell into a light sleep.

The moon was high in the sky when the copy-nin woke up for the second time that night.

The same footsteps approached from below, gradually getting louder and louder till they reached the cluster of family oaks that made up the resting place for one really sleepy masked nin. His heightened ears could already recognise those foot falls, his sensitive nose already identifying the mixture of pine, vanilla and chalk that clung to sweat and blood. The damned civilian was here again.

The masked man suppressed a growl when he caught sight of the younger man walking below him. The brown pony tail was drooping and he had an extraordinary collection of botanical debris clustered into his hair. His light clothes must've been doing a poor job at insulating heat because his usual tan skin was a chilly pale hue that made his tired brown eyes look like ghostly orbs in the moonlight. Fog was puffing out of his mouth every time he exhaled and there was a small trembled to his hands as they numbly clung to his back pack. If possible, the brown eyed stalker looked worse than the last time Kakashi had seen him.

And there it was again. The strange civilian in green looked left, right, and then stood completely still like he was concentrating on where he should go next. But just like the first time, the scarred man just plonked himself down to the ground and rested himself against the tree; seemingly content with the sudden location.

If Kakashi had been a young, green sapling then he would've thought that the stranger was following him. Like he _knew _where Kakashi was. But the older jounin wasn't young or incompetent. The weird civilian with the strange horizontal scar couldn't be tracking him. The silver haired man didn't leave anything for him to follow. That would be impossible. With sudden narrowed eyes, the silver haired nin decided that he might not be incompetent but he sure was _paranoid_. So he left almost immediately.

This time the older nin bolted through the trees as fast as he could in his current, depleted condition would allow and tried to put as much distance between him and the brown eyed man who – as he last checked – was blissfully falling into a much wanted slumber. The jounin only stopped when the trees began to change to a different species of pine and the air took on a mustier minty smell. Annoyed at his weakened state, he decided he should stop for the night. There was no way the other man would follow him all the way here. He was so far south that even _he_ didn't know where he was.

With a small feeling of petty self-congratulation, the one-eyed man rested in his perched cradle high above the ground and slept.

ooo

He dreamt of something, but he wasn't entirely sure what it was. It was obviously something unsavoury because his body was sweating and his mind felt foggy and tired despite his few hours of rest. Dragging his palm down his face, Kakashi opened his eye to the early light of morning bleeding through the canopy.

His knuckles unexpectedly brushed against metal pressed firmly to his forehead and Kakashi stopped for a moment. Pulling it off with practiced ease, the one-eyed man inspected the strange plate in his palm. The pad of his fingers traced over the swirled engraving etched into the metal. An insignia of a stylised leaf.

With little care, he placed it back on his forehead, not liking how bare the skin felt without it. It had its practical use as did the unfamiliar green uniform that he wore.

He was a soldier. He knew that with certainty. No amount of memory loss could make a person unaware of such a weaponized body or the bone deep instinct to kill with such efficiency and discipline. Kakashi also knew that he was not meant to be so bereft of his memories. What had happened to cause such a blunder to his mind? It must have happened some time during yesterday but searching through his mind was like looking for a speck of gold dust in a cascade of mud.

The chilly morning air was crisp in his lungs and the lost soldier savoured it. He didn't know where he was to go from here or what he should do. Even if he did, the lost man felt a strange lack of motivation. Regardless, until he _did_ decide on what to do, or who he was, he would trust no one. Due to his lack of substantial information about himself or anything or anyone, the masked soldier would be at a constant disadvantage. Everything that could think or move on its own accord was a hostile agent. He could not afford to think otherwise.

With that sentiment solidifying in his mind, Kakashi sat up from his nest of foliage and gracefully leaped down to the floor, only to nearly trip over a prone body sprawled beside the roots of the tree. He nearly balked.

There he was. The civilian with the scar, curled like kitten under the dismal protection of the very same tree Kakashi had slept in. The very tree he had found for the soul purpose of getting _away _from the persistent stalker. The tree he had found _miles _away from where he had left the stranger. There was no way that this man could have followed him so far away. No way could he have tracked him with such precision in that middle of a gigantic forest that spread through hundred and hundreds of acres, only to successfully find the _one _pine tree Kakashi was sleeping in. Kakashi knew better than to believe in coincidences.

It was while the masked ninja was speeding through all his paranoid and very suspicious thoughts that Iruka blinked blearily awake. Supressing a yawn and scratching the scar upon his nose, the teacher rubbed out the sleep from his eyes and noticed the cold gaze he was welcomed with.

At least the smaller man seemed genuinely surprised at Kakashi's appearance. The stranger bolted up and scrambled to his feet only to blink and shake his head in discomfort when a dizzy spell hit him. The entire movement was all jittery and pained due to whatever injury the man had carried underneath the thin clothes he wore. All in all, Kakashi felt he may have overestimated the man a little.

They stood there, watching each other with differing levels of curiosity and animosity. Kakashi could have glared all day but the other man didn't find their current activity all that stimulating, so he crouched back down and grabbed for the small back pack he had been using as a pillow. After rummaging around, he pulled out what seemed to be a wrapped up bar of some kind. Kakashi noted that it smelt of some kind of nut and wheat mixed together with honey. Not all that appealing as a meal but his stomach seemed to ache at the prospect of food.

The brown eyed man looked down at the bar and slowly offered it to the copy-nin. A small token of truce. Kakashi ignored it completely.

For some reason the doe-eyed stranger found this as an incentive to come closer and forcefully push it towards Kakashi. As a result the silver haired nin let out a low warning growl. This made the younger man pause but remained determined to try feed him, which in Kakashi's mind made no sense.

"Leave." Kakashi finally hissed out whilst attempting to scare the man off with a glare that could melt skin off bone.

The civilian with the doe eyes just shook his head in refusal.

The masked nin contemplated if he should just break the man's neck and call it a day.

The stranger walked closer and pulled out a flask of water then looked at Kakashi. This time he didn't offer it but took a swig and gulped down small sips of water whilst his eyes never left Kakashi. Those brown pupils dilated as he continued to drink which no doubt must have tasted like metal but it was more moisture than Kakashi could boast he had. The civilian must have drunk half the flask then stopped only to smack his lips obscenely, not once shifting his faun eyes from Kakashi.

The display was designed to taunt and the jounin found it downright offensive.

Instead he diverted the mockery with a question. "Why are you following me?"

The younger man opened his mouth but shut it again almost immediately. He moved his head to the side as if staring off into the distance and sighed. He gave the jounin a meaningful look, completely loaded with emotion and drenched in subtle meaning. Kakashi decided he didn't like it.

"You're a mute." He stated needlessly, remembering that the man had sustained some kind of trauma to his vocal chords.

The brown eyed stranger only rolled his eyes. '_Duh', _he seemed to say, but the sarcasm was ruined by the palpable feeling of distress hovering over the younger man. Unconsciously he lifted his hand to gently touch the tender skin of his neck whilst looking down. Dejected and somewhat uncertain, the scarred stranger shot another loaded expression towards Kakashi that he simply couldn't understand.

With a stern command he said, "Go back and stop following me." He felt like he was ordering a dog. It seemed the stranger thought so too because he just raised an unamused eyebrow.

Kakashi didn't understand this man. There was _nothing_ that should have attracted this stranger towards him. He had nearly killed him twice and snapped his finger for no other reason than to make a point. Yet the weird stranger continued to chase him through the forest like a hound after a bone, completely ignoring the fact that he was a very unstable individual that just wanted solitude while he dealt with his private crisis.

The masked amnesiac wasn't stupid; he had deduced that the only thing that explained the strangers actions was because they were acquainted somehow.

"You know me." It really wasn't all that surprising.

Almost immediately something literally sparkled in the other man's eye and he nodded with some vigour, '_Yes'._ He then pointed towards Kakashi and back towards himself, showing some kind of connected bond between the two. Then he came closer, too close for Kakashi's liking but he didn't push the man away, because much to his chagrin, he wanted to know. When the doe-eyed stranger was only two feet away from him he lifted his hand but hesitated. Those chocolate brown eyes asked for silent permission then very slowly held out two fingers and looped it around Kakashi's index and middle finger.

Now both their hands were joined at the apex of two connected fingers. '_I know you'._ The stranger tightened his hold, his nimble fingers shaking ever so slightly. '_Remember me'. _

Warm doe eyes wrapped Kakashi with a rippling expression of trust and inexplicable familiarity, like he truly believed Kakashi would suddenly understand everything he was trying to convey from his eyes alone. And for a moment there might have been the smallest whisper of recognition, but _if_ it ever existed, it died stillborn.

Kakashi abruptly pushed the man's fingers out of his own and turned his body away so he was no longer facing those faun-brown eyes.

"I don't know you." His words were less cold but more solid and firm. He didn't apologize and he didn't care all that much at the sheer disappointment in the stranger's face. "I can't help you."

The doe eyed stranger shook his head again and made a strange sign with his fingers. The amnesiac soldier just stared at the hand sign but didn't recognise it. He probably should but he didn't. After a moment it seemed the younger man realised that Kakashi didn't understand the signs he was weaving with his fingers, so he stopped and just _looked _at the silver haired nin with a lost expression.

The masked soldier knew he had disappointed the weird civilian and he didn't appreciate the feeling that he failed somehow, so he sighed.

"You're going to keep following me aren't you?" He didn't even need to ask, the stubborn tilt of the other's chin told him enough. "I'll kill you if I have to. You mean nothing to me." The threat was very real but Kakashi found that he doubted he'd do something so permanent.

He watched as the brown eyed stranger look at him squarely in the eyes and nodded firmly, completely open in his resolve. For once the copy-nin seemed to know exactly what he meant without any words. '_I don't care. Do as you wish, I will follow you'._

Something about the way those warm ochre eyes cementing into passionate coal made Kakashi suddenly feel that the stranger had just made a deeply personal vow to him.

Are we friends? Kakashi almost wanted to ask, his lips poised to make the inquiry but something in him didn't allow him too. This man trusted him and for some inexplicable reason it made the jounin increasingly uneasy.

The doe-eyed stranger strapped the bag to his back and signalled the jounin to follow. '_This way'._

Kakashi ignored it and went the opposite direction. Bolting through the mass of trees so he would not be followed.

ooo

It was noon when the masked amnesiac met with a river cutting into the forest like a watery scar in the land. It was fresh water so he took a moment to drink and quench his thirst.

It was then that he caught a first glimpse of his reflection.

Rippled and distorted, it was a strange mirage of silver and navy. There should have been recognition when gazing down at his own face, but there wasn't. The stranger with the pale skin and mismatched eyes was alien and cold. The red orbs of his left eye were spinning slowly, like a Catherine wheel, revolving languidly as power pulse behind his socket. Menacing yet utterly captivating. He didn't know why he had such a bizarre feature but he certainly knew how to use it.

Finding no revelations, Kakashi quickly covered it up and began to trek back when he suddenly stopped and looked back down at the once clear river.

The water ran red.

The diluted smell of rust and iron filled his nose as he sniffed and found that it was indeed blood running through the watery currents of the river bank. It could just be animal blood but the masked amnesiac felt an instinctual suspicion it was nothing of the sort. It didn't take long for him to overcome his initial reluctance and decided to investigate. Something was happening upstream.

He sneaked about ten metres up the bank when the line of the shore banked into a curve, successfully creating a little pocketed muddy beach. It was there that Kakashi found a river boat of medium size, hovering languidly in the shallow waters of the bank. The seemingly innocent vessel was old but still sturdy and had blue paint stripped off in some places. It would have looked reasonably quaint, if it weren't for the streams of blood running out of the back plumbing of the boat. And it smelt distinctly human and very _stale._

The silver haired ninja eyed the vessel with narrowed suspicion and noticed that something smelt strongly of mint and eucalyptus. In fact, if it weren't for his hyper sensitive nose, Kakashi might have missed the blood due to the overwhelming aroma of minty herbs and leaves. Against his better judgment, the masked man moved in closer while skiting around the river stones and boulders so he could see better into the round portal of the boat. It was dark but his eyes managed to focus through the near-opaque glass and found that his initial sentiments about the shady boat were correct.

There were bodies in there. Pressed, squashed and tangled together like a grotesque monster of multiple limbs and appendages. The smell of blood was now so intense that Kakashi was hard pressed not to gag. It was only surpassed by the putrid stench of rotting flesh. It was then that he realised that the minty herbs must have been carried in the boat for the purpose of hiding the stench of decaying carcasses.

Kakashi's memories didn't allow him to know what his favourite colour was but it didn't make him understand the world any less. He knew what this boat was for and if he could see the strangely absent crew then he would know that they were involved with the black market.

Corpse diggers. Human carcass traffickers. Body sellers. Grave Mercenaries.

The stench alone confirmed that Kakashi had stumbled onto a vessel for the dark trades.

The revelation didn't hold much weight in his mind and he was readying himself to turn around forget he ever saw the filthy river boat but he heard the sounds of voices. The crew was coming back. He quickly ducked away on a near clove of stacked stones and observed the incoming men. They were non-descript, wearing dark clothes and protective waterproof hats and coats for the seasonal rains that fell in the region. They did indeed look a little like river pirates but they were also deceptively clean and tidy, this made their façade seem more akin to river fishing cohort. They were talking in low gruff voices and some seemed more hurried than others.

"Hurry it up, we've been here for too long." Grounded out a man with a sword.

Three of the crew were already climbing back up the boat but two more were still on the bank carrying a few heavy bags. "Yeah, yeah, hold on to ya panties would ya." One of the men grunted out in annoyance.

The two remaining men on the shore hurried the pace, but in doing so, the last crew member trailing behind had slipped on the sludgy silt of the muddy beach and lost his grip on one of the bags they had been carrying. This resulted in a few swear words and complaints from the rest of the crew but Kakashi didn't take note of any of that. No, his lone dark eye narrowed onto the sack that now lay open on the river bank, it contents tossed out like a bag of apples.

The body of a child rolled out of the bloodied bag, his cold eyes staring off towards the sky unseeing and blank.

The boy's hair was shocking red but some places were darker due to wads of blood coating his locks. He had a sweet face but the set of his mouth was suited to that of a wide Cheshire grin, this matched the impressive number of dark freckles that coated his cheeks and nose. But it was hard to appreciate the cherub face when he was coated in streams of blood and eerily staring off at nothing.

"You idiot! Can't you useless worms do anything right?" growled out the head crewman.

"Sorry sir." Mumbled last crew member who had slipped on the mud.

"Hurry up!"

Kakashi ignored their little exchange and continued to stare at the carcass of the dead child being rolled back up into his body bag like he was a wad of ham. A growl tumbled out from the back of his throat and his fist clenched into his palm. He didn't care about the damn boat before but now Kakashi found an unexpected rage rolling in the bottom of gut, ready to spill out if he didn't break something soon.

He wouldn't kill them outright, no, Kakashi would take what was more important than their life. Their job. After all, body traffickers were nothing without their bodies.

Those vile mercenaries never saw the dark shadow slinking around their boat. They didn't see the tank of fuel missing from the basement. And they certainly didn't see the figure of silver haired assailant standing over their deck with a stolen lighter in his hands. But they did see their entire vessel abruptly go up in flames for seemingly no reason. They scrambled and yelled about as one by one the crew member jumped into the water, trying to avoid the fire ravaging the haul and the engine and everything that was carried in the filthy vessel. The mangled bodies of anonymous corpses also burned, disappearing with the smoke and cracking wood of the boat. In Kakashi's opinion, it was a glorious bonfire on water and he felt somewhat satisfied knowing that those bodies weren't going to be sold for less than legal operations.

The motor engine exploded like a bomb and it spat out chunks of metal and debris in all directions. Kakashi, who had been admiring his handiwork with vindictive glee, didn't expect to have a chunk of metal missile its way onto his chest. It didn't pierce the skin but it certainly knocked the wind out of him and threw him solidly back against the boulder he had previously been hiding behind.

The copy-nin's head hit against the stone with a solid 'thwack' then all the lights went out.

ooo

The moment Kakashi woke up, all he wanted to do was throw up. Actually, he might have done that but he couldn't be sure since his entire world was tipping to the side and his brain was dripping from his ears. The sickly bitter smell of burnt mint clung to his lungs and smoke lingered heavily in the air. His rude awakening was accompanied by an unexpected sharp kick to his stomach which definitely made him throw up stomach acid.

"So you've woken up."

Kakashi peered up at his attacker and found one of the crew members looming over his body with a serpentine sneer. This was when the amnesiac realized that his hands were bound around the trunk of a narrow tree behind his back. It was sore and uncomfortable and remarkably tight since he had lost all feeling in his left hand.

"I thought that was obvious." Kakashi retorted lightly with a raised eyebrow. The other man didn't seem to share his humour and gave his some more bruised ribs.

The vile man leaned forward with blade edging close to the throbbing artery in his neck. "I'd watch the smart mouth of yours."

The masked man shifted his head away by a small fraction then added, "I'd watch that breath."

For his cheek, Kakashi was rewarded with harsh punch in the gut. He gritted his teeth, not making a single sound and gave a pleasant one-eyed smile.

"We'll see how far we can take it before you're begging us to slice your throat open." His captor gave a steely glare then unexpected smiled. "I don't think it's too farfetched for us to assume it was you who blew up our ship."

He gave the man a puzzled look. "I didn't blow up a ship." Then he blinked, "I only remember setting a floating latrine on fire but hey," Kakashi gave a nonchalant shrug, "I could be mistaken."

"You think you're quite funny eh?" the body seller choked out a smokers cackle. "It's not me who's tied up to a tree. You're the one at _our _mercy."

Kakashi didn't bother to respond.

A second man with wonky walk hopped his way to the head crewman and passed him a few objects. It was then that the silver haired ninja noticed that they must have taken off his flak jacket at some point. "Sir, we found some of his stuff in the wreckage."

"Well, well, looky here." The mercenary sneered as he held out his forehead protector. "A ninja eh, well ain't that a surprise? Ya pretty far south for a tree hugger but I'm not complaining." Kakashi noted that two more men appeared from several different areas, all with some form of injury from the fire but all wearing the same hungry expression. And it was all directed at Kakashi. "Hey boys, I think we may have solved one of our problems." The other men smiled and snickered at his words.

Kakashi didn't even flinch when the man began to draw light cuts into his exposed arm; he just stared blankly at the watery river bank in front of him.

"Ya see that was our merchandise you blew up and we don't appreciate you sabotaging our work, it took quite some effort collecting that many bodies to sell, ain't that right boys?" his cronies sniggered and sneered in response. "Since you've ruined our source of income, well…it's only polite you pay us back." He cut particularly deep near Kakashi's elbow and eyed the oozing blood with a sadistic smile.

"Our job is the selling of goods…very _particular _goods. Bodies to be exact. But you know what our clients love better than a few fresh limbs and couple of dead children?" He leaned forwards, his hot breath passing over Kakashi's ear like a sewer steam. "Ninja."

There was something disturbing about the way he said it, the eyes of all four men in the camp glinted with greed. It seemed he really was worth quite a bit. Good to know.

"And a Konoha shinobi to boot, ain't we lucky? They'll love a fire brand."

Kakashi mostly ignored the man's villainous mumbo jumbo which he seemed to take quite some pride in and focused on the information they had unwittingly fed to him.

_Konoha _shinobi. Ninja of the leaf. A soldier just as he had first assumed but the new revelation didn't open anymore doors.

He sighed and said, "You done? I was hoping you'd just slice my throat open, not bore me to death."

"Don't worry, you won't be bored for much longer." His statement was emphasised but the ringing twang of his sword being drawn out.

In the three second it took for a captor to slowly inch the blade to his throat, Kakashi had already formulated several ways of how to breakout from his bonds and snap the trafficker's spine in half, or maybe gouging his eyes out or perhaps he'd find a better use for his spleen. But it seemed that the silver haired ninja's grossly violent plans would never come to fruition because suddenly everyone's attention was drawn by and screaming, _thump, _then silence.

"What was that?" One of his captors thought out loud.

"Someone go check it out." The captain ordered.

The man who had gone to investigate didn't come back. The others began to shift the eyes in apprehension has their missing member failed to show up.

The leader of the criminal cohort snapped a sharp look to Kakashi then asked, "Is there someone with you?"

The copy-nin just gave him a blasé look. "Nope." It was pretty much the truth.

Three more went to investigate and this time there was evidently a struggle blooming behind the trees. Clanging metal and hissed voices echoed from out of Kakashi's vision but he could imagine that whoever it was, was giving as much as he got. It was only one minute but eventually the fighting stopped and silenced followed. This time two men out of three came back but they both seemed out of breath and immensely irritated. The second man behind him was visibly injured; blood was oozing out of his left eye. But this was largely ignored due to the fact that the silver haired amnesiac focused his gaze to the assailant they brought back with them.

Half dragged, half pushed, they brought in his doe-eyed stalker and pushed him to the ground with force. He was _more _roughed up then he'd last seen him, his green clothes now more brown and his hair was untied, hanging freely around his shoulders. Kakashi really shouldn't have been shocked to find that the man had followed him _again,_ but he was.

"What's this?"

The young man with the horizontal scar made no move to respond instead he just blew his untied hair out of his face and glared at the trader with defiance.

"You killed three of my men with one flimsy blade you found in the wreckage. Impressive." The captain leaned in and eyed the teacher with increasing menace. "Who are you?"

The brown haired intruder spat in his face and Kakashi had the decency to wince a little at the violent punch that his strange stalker was subjected to.

"He took my eye, let's just kill him already!" shouted the man with the bleeding eye.

The strange civilian was now sprawled on the ground and the captain promptly kicked him in the stomach. After that, he didn't move. The silver haired ninja actually found himself eyeing the strange civilian with some focus, almost willing him to get back up. Naturally he didn't.

"Well, it seems we keep getting visitors. You sure he ain't with you?" Kakashi didn't bother to answer. "No matter, two new bodies are better than one." The criminal took another step towards Kakashi and held up his sword. "We'll start with the head."

The one-eyed ninja tensed and began to prepare himself to break out of his bonds even it meant breaking his arms but in the end such drastic measures weren't needed.

In one explosive boom, the ground shook then exploded.

Suddenly there was dust and rock spraying into the sky and the air was thick with sediment and dirt, so much of it was in the air that Kakashi's vision was reduced to about a metre radius. Much to his chagrin, he was still chained to the damn tree. His only comfort was that the black trade merchants would be just as blind as he was.

Kakashi's eye suddenly caught a glint of cutting metal and tensed but only found his hands were suddenly free from the painful ropes.

He quickly stood up and turned to see the scarred face of his doe-eyed stalker. The younger man put his finger to his lips, a signal of silence, then grabbed Kakashi's wrist and began to limp away from the body trafficker's camp. This time he followed without complaint. They eventually reached the shore of the river where Kakashi had first seen the boat and was surprised to see a vessel on the bank. It was a small thing, almost like a canoe just a little shorter and made of soft wood. It had a similar paint design to the black merchant's river vessel that he'd burned down. It must have been a companion boat that the criminals used a spare. It seemed they were lucky it hadn't been destroyed in the previous fiasco.

Both Kakashi and his mute companion jumped into the small boat and each reached for a paddle. It was then that Kakashi noticed the boat already had a small bundle in it which made the vessel rather unstable. Kakashi reached to throw it out but was promptly stopped by the civilian with a sharp look. He decided to forget about it and focused on the task at hand. Just as they heard the sounds of approaching feet and shouting, they pushed off the bank and catapulted themselves down the river and away from the vile criminals.

When they were at least a few kilometres down the river, both men finally eased out of their tense vigil and deemed it safe to relax a bit.

Kakashi eyed his scarred companion with a blank gaze and realised for the first time that he honestly didn't know a thing about him. His action back at the camp didn't match up to what the ninja had thought the civilian should be. There was something off about the brown haired man and Kakashi probably should have noticed it sooner. It was tempting to leap out of the small boat and leave it at that but some small part of Kakashi felt that would not be appropriate after the stranger had _assisted _him in escaping. Of course had he not shown up, the silver haired ninja would have escaped without his help.

So with a generous amount of restraint, Kakashi supressed his increasing unease and decided to show a miniscule amount of courtesy and stoically remain silent as they travelled down the river in the cramped canoe. He'd leave whenever he'd like but for now, it was better than walking.

ooo

Something started to smell bad. It didn't take a genius to realise that the small bundle in their tight canoe was the source of the stench.

Kakashi had eyed the bag with some suspicion since their joint travel and refused to go near it. The doe-eyed man in front of him just ignored it like it wasn't even there and continued to paddle with pained repetition, his numerous injuries probably taking a heavy toll. It was a bit of surprised when the scarred civilian turned the boat around and slowly eased it into a stony bank.

Kakashi didn't utter a word as the brown haired man pulled the rotting bundle of rags in his arms and carried it towards land. He didn't say anything when his mute companion pulled out a make-shift shovel from a flat scrap of metal and began to dig a hole into the soft dirt. The body was small and the quick glimpse of red hair made it clear who was in the body bag. Kakashi continued to watch silently as his mute companion tightened the rags around the corpse and neatly tied the bundle with twine, his movements quick and methodical but undeniably compassionate and respectful for the dead child.

When the grave had been covered and stone had been stacked on the disturbed soil, the man with the strange faun-brown eyes crouched down to his knees and lowered his head in a silent prayer. He didn't move till the frogs began to sing and the air cooled to a frosty chill.

"You've prayed long enough, let's move on."

Kakashi's stranger turned to look at him and there was a calm unreadable expression lingering in his eyes, those eyes that he decided were too expressive to be safe. The brown haired stranger nodded once and stood up only to nearly fall back down. His legs were wood stumps from sitting in the same position for too long and Kakashi expected that his younger companion was in very poor health.

With a sigh the copy-nin walked over and reluctantly straightened the civilian's balance. "You really are useless aren't you?"

He received a glare but its menace was ruined by the sheer lethargy that had come over the other man's face.

"Get in the boat or I'm leaving without you." Kakashi let him stand on his own and began to climb back into their water vessel.

The mute stranger stumbled back in but found the exercise too taxing for his damaged body and completely passed out. The unsuspecting Kakashi who had been reaching for the paddle found himself tipped over by the unconscious body of his doe-eyed stalker and the entire boat capsized. Sputtering and cursing, the copy-nin crawled back onto the shore and glared off into the water as he shook the water out of his eyes. The weird stranger really was bad luck and it seemed his stalker hadn't resurfaced from the capsizing.

He waited for a moment then decided that he wasn't in the mood to dig another grave tonight and promptly dived back into the river to find the younger man. It didn't take long to drag the scarred civilian to the surface and to carry him away from the shore and into the thicket of trees. Kakashi made a fire and wrung his clothes out to dry whilst feeding the flames and eyeing the stars in apathetic disdain. His unconscious stranger was beside him under the protection of the leaves and roots and completely gone from the world.

By the time the owls began to hoot, Kakashi noted that his companion had been _too_ still. Previously doe-eyes would shiver and frown in his sleep followed by long periods of twitching and sudden stillness. But Kakashi had noted that the man had shown no active movement for over two hours and had gone unusually pale, like the colour of bleached bone.

The one-eyed amnesiac frowned as he leaned closer to inspect the brown haired stranger. His breathing was too shallow and his body was glacial in temperature since Kakashi hadn't bothered to dry off the younger man's clothes. After a moment of hesitation, Kakashi pulled away the flimsy yukata and inspected the array of cuts, bruises and near open wounds that littered the stranger's body in a grotesque mish-mash of blood, flesh and body fluids.

Had his mute stalker walked, ran, fought and paddle down a rapid river in this appalling condition?

Even Kakashi had to admit that the stranger was in terrible, if not near fatal conditions and even though he held no attachments to him, he felt he had to repay his debt to the strange man.

With a small sigh Kakashi began to clean and patch up whatever cut or laceration that he could find on the doe-eyed stranger's body. Which was quite a fair bit. Then he used the shredded ends of his trousers to make some bandages and wrapped them around the open cut in the civilian left hand and splinted the finger he had broken the previous morning. When he finished tending to the injuries, the copy-nin fed the fire till it was ensured to burn for a long time then lay down next to the unconscious man.

Kakashi pulled his mute companion's prone body towards his chest and tried to ignore that uncomfortable proximity of another body nested unnecessarily close to his persons. But the warmth was rather enticing and it was enough to know that he had survived the day to ignore the uncomfortable sticks and stone under his side.

With another muttered curse and a heavy sigh, Kakashi closed his eyes and decided it was going to be a long night.

* * *

A/N: The reluctant partnership. Thank you for reading.

CADEL


End file.
